The Digital Divide

I am sure many of us in Singapore would have experienced the crazy downpours over the past week. In a way, you could say that I was unfortunate to be caught in the rain while running a few business appointments over the week. Well, I do admit that I was slightly inconvenienced as it affected my travelling time. In the past, I would have been late or have a really bad day from the troubles of getting around. Not anymore.

Exiting the office lift into the sight of a heavy downpour did not cue instant frustration (or a bit of swearing, in extremely rare cases). In a few shift movement, I whipped out my mobile phone and booked an Uber ride within seconds.

I am grateful. Grateful for technological advancement. Grateful for MANG2049. Sometimes it really feels good once we let loose and take it all in — What a wonderful world we live in.

Prompted by this experience, I did some research and found some statistics that isn’t too good to look at. (PSC, 2016)

 

This immediately sparked a chain of thoughts in me:

  1. Income Inequality has direct correlation with the Digital Divide (World Economic Forum, 2017)
  2. So much for the advancement of technology, many people still don’t get to enjoy the benefits that come with it
  3. If income inequality persists in 2017, what hope do we have in bridging the Digital Divide? (Bloomberg, 2017)

I remember coming across the principle of Net Neutrality a while ago. It was heavily criticized by many and I was skeptical of it initially. In this context, it appears that Net Neutrality might have a positive impact on bridging the digital divide.

Untitled-1-01

Source: Original Content using Adobe Illustrator

I am very sure Net Neutrality is not the fool proof solution. However, it is possible with a few tweaks around the principal idea.

To sum things up, I feel grateful that my digital interactions have improved my quality of life. On a global scale, I wish more can be done to pull  “digital differences” closer.

(325 Words)

References:

Bloomberg. (2017, 09 13). Inequality persists despite progress on incomes and poverty. Retrieved from Bloomberg: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-09-13/inequality-persists-despite-u-s-progress-on-incomes-and-poverty

Halford, S., Davies, H., & Dixon, J. (2017, November 10). 1.11 Digital differences – inequalities and online practices. Retrieved from Future Learn: https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/learning-network-age/3/steps/263012

Pew Global Research. (2016, 02 22). Internet access growing worldwide but remain higher in advanced economies. Retrieved from Pew Global Research: http://www.pewglobal.org/2016/02/22/internet-access-growing-worldwide-but-remains-higher-in-advanced-economies/

Selin. (2017, 01 01). The Socioeconomics of the digital divide and net neutrality. Retrieved from Steemit: https://steemit.com/technology/@radiant/the-socioeconomics-of-the-digital-divide-and-net-neutrality

World Economics Forum. (2017, 08 1). Inequality makes us unhappy – Here’s why. Retrieved from World Economics Forum: https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2017/08/inequality-makes-us-unhappy-heres-why/

 

8 thoughts on “The Digital Divide”

  2. Yingzhen, I love your inclusion of net neutrality in this discussion and I agree that treating all data equally is important for bridging the divide. As you’ve mentioned in your post, income inequality directly influences digital differences. Without net neutrality, internet providers have the ability to grant better, more improved access to internet content only to people who can afford it. It creates a “premium” internet and will end up creating a bigger divide that’s even more dependent on income. CPGGrey explains the dangers of the situation quite well. There is no net neutrality in Portugal and as a result, internet providers have split content into packages.

    This doesn’t pose a danger to just users. It may also discourage future internet startups who can’t afford to be included in a premium internet. Eventually, this results in a stagnant internet that doesn’t evolve. We can’t learn without progress.

    Word count: 147

    References
    CPGGrey’s Video: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2C_jShtL725hvbm1arSV9w
    Net Neutrality in Portugal & Spain: https://qz.com/1114690/why-is-net-neutrality-important-look-to-portugal-and-spain-to-understand/

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Shanelle,

      Thank you for your inputs. The links you provided has definitely widen my range of knowledge/research. In fact, Net Neutrality in Portugal & Spain is one of my points under my latest reflection post — Alarming Persistence of Digital Divide

      For all the different regulations and enforcement around the world, i feel that we lack a centralized governing body to ensure strategy towards narrowing digital divide is streamlined.

      Have a good week ahead

      Ying Zhen

      Like

  3. Hi YZ,

    I’m impressed by the discussion you’ve expounded from just Digital Differences, more so on Net Neutrality. I concur that Net Neutrality is not an entire fool proof solution but it’s an effort to bridge differences. However, that being said, would you think that this is just a more Communistic approach to the matter? Considering that it stifles innovation, which pushes even the more earnest of learners to other resorts (Dark Web), and creates a whole tree of problems. Even President Trump has plans to overturn Net Neutrality, which seems set to receive some backlash (https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/apr/26/trump-overturn-net-neutrality-rules-resistance). This also stemmed other thoughts:
    1) Would setting everyone on the same plane be derogative to those in pursuit of further enhancement?
    2) How about the embracement of Digital Differences? Is difference really that bad?
    3) Would you then consider other methods of resolve (i.e. Education, Open Net)?

    Would love to hear your thoughts!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Hi Amoz,

      I am happy to hear from you. I am slightly confused at the point you are driving across but i would like to point you to an article here.
      https://qz.com/1114690/why-is-net-neutrality-important-look-to-portugal-and-spain-to-understand/

      1. Without being completely negative of the situation, how about letting me redirect you to examples from local context.

      a. Telecommunications Oligopoly – Starhub, Singtel, M1
      b. Complete Media Monopoly – SPH (World Press Freedom Index, Singapore is ranked 151st)
      c. Rail Network Monopoly – SMRT (Persistence failure of service delivery in the past 5 years)

      I do not think that i need to dwell on these examples as you should be very familiar of our local context. The point being that the lack of competition is any given industry will create a range of problems as these organisations are allowed to focus on maximizing profits.

      2. I stand for minimizing the existence of digital differences. Technological advantage is greater than it ever was. Correct me if i am wrong, I am pretty sure you are able to retrieve information in a much more systematic and efficient manner with the the Internet than any other sources. For instance, the difference in learning speed of a child growing up with internet and another child without is disproportionate(Ceteris paribus). For the greater good/advancement of mankind, optimal and effective learning is essential. (P/S I am science geek, i like the idea of terraforming other planets)

      3. I believe Open Net (Open Internet) is only achievable through enforcement of net neutrality principals. i.e. Net neutrality is a core component for open internet

      Apologies for lengthiness and imperfect structure, we all have a long day!

      Cheers

      Liked by 1 person

Leave a comment